Writer-director
Thom Fitzgerald is determined that we keep focused on
the scourge of the AIDS virus; with this cinematic triptych
of stories that spans the world, he guarantees that those
of us who watch “3 Needles” definitely will.

Spanning
China, Canada and Africa, the film explores the different
ways that AIDS is still being spread—from more rural,
superstitious and less privileged peoples to Western society
where people should know better, but are still knowingly
infecting others.

Lucy
Liu shines in the first segment as a pregnant woman deep
in the heart of China, whose actions as a blood gatherer
end up infecting an entire village. Her performance is
so affecting—and her story line so lyrically beautiful
in both narrative and visuals—that it is hard for
the other actors who follow to match her intensity.

Stockard
Channing gives it a go, however, in the second segment
set in Montréal, as she discovers that her son
(Shawn Ashmore) has been working as a porn actor and has
contracted AIDS. Her performance, ably supported by his,
makes this segment the most disturbing. These are the
people who should know the danger of AIDS, but do not
care if people die as they grasp at life together.

The
third segment, set in a stunningly beautiful African locale,
brings home the crisis on that continent in a very personal
way. Seen through the eyes of three nuns (played by Olympia
Dukakis, Chloë Sevigny and Sandra Oh, in a very minor
role) who are trying to convert the so-called “pagans”
to Catholicism, this vignette is a multi-layered look
at a simple society where AIDS is running rampant.

Overall,
“3 Needles” is an extremely well-acted, beautiful-to-look-at
indictment of much of the world's attitude toward AIDS—a
blend of indifference, ignorance, and resignation that
ultimately leaves us with a slightly depressed feeling
about the fate of man in the face of this insidious disease.
Obviously, a “feel-good” movie it’s
not, so know going in that this is a serious film about
a serious subject. However, it is one worth watching for
certain.